Remember
by little turtle
Summary: Casey gets amnesia from a car crash. Derek gets a fresh start with Casey. Will have DASEY in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: LWD belongs to Disney, not me.

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"Casey? Casey honey, are you awake?"

She opened heavy eyelids to a brightly lit room, in a sterile room full of people she didn't recognize. They seemed to be concerned about a girl named Casey… except they were looking at her.

She blinked rapidly, willing the black spots in front of her to disappear. They were surrounding her, leaning their faces in as if studying a lab animal. The only difference being that their faces were filled to the brim with concern.

The woman called out the name again.

"Casey?"

As she slowly turned her head to face the woman, she was overwhelmed with a sense of loss. This woman was tearing up; her face splotchy, her eyes rimmed red. Yet she had the strangest notion that the woman was feeling…love. For her.

"Should I know you?" she asked the woman, her voice scratchy from the lack of use. At this, tears fell openly from the woman's face, which she buried in the man's shoulder.

"Casey," a young girl began, approaching her. "Don't you recognize any of us?"

There were six of them in all; a very little girl hugging the leg of a teenage boy in a leather jacket, the young girl standing beside a boy about her age, and the woman and her companion. They all seemed crestfallen at her responses.

"I'm sorry," she told them, truly meaning it. She had no idea what they wanted from her, but first, she needed to find out who she was.

"Who am I?" The woman choked back more tears at this question.

"Your name is Casey McDonald," the young girl spoke up again. "You're my sister. You're our sister." The girl gestured to the other kids.

"Yes, and I'm your stepfather," the man said kindly, wiping the woman's face. His next words made her heart cringe. "This is your mother."

She nodded in acceptance. Amnesia. She had amnesia. How could she not feel anything for this poor woman feeling a world of pain just because she did not recognize her? How could she feel so lost and detached from this caring family that was hers?

Simple. She just couldn't. She didn't have any memory of any of these people to feel anything for them.

"Oh… Hello, mother," she said stiffly, as she accepted a wet hug from the woman. She was not released from the hug for a moment or two. It gave her a chance to get a better sense of her surroundings. It was a large room, with closed curtains over large windows. Fluorescent light made everything seem eerily pale and sterile. Two chairs were against the wall from her seat on the cot, and an identical setting with another cot was right beside hers. A boy with dirty blond hair lay on the cot, his face and arms scratched up. A man seeming to be the boy's father stood by the boy's cot, his lined face frowning with worry.

Once she was released from the hug, she sighed. She had so many questions about herself, about them, but mostly about what had happened to make her this way.

"You were in a car accident," said the teenage boy, as if reading her thoughts. "Sam over there," he jerked his head to the second cot, "was driving at the time. You were in the car with him when you collided with a drunk driver."

She looked at him. She could not recognize him, as much as she tried. Just like she had no recollection of what had happened. She nodded to acknowledge his explanation.

"…Are you my brother?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah, yeah I am," he replied with the tiniest of smiles.

"Was I…I mean, am I friends with that boy?" She said, looking at the battered figure on the second cot.

"Yeah. He was, is, your…boyfriend," he said, voice a little tight.

"Oh." She didn't feel anything for the figure on the cot, as a girlfriend should feel for her boyfriend. But then again, she didn't feel anything for the woman who was supposedly her mother either.

"Could I go home now?" she asked, directing the question at him. For a reason she couldn't fathom, she somehow knew that he was her age, that she was his age. And the best she could do without a trace of memory was to try and relate with someone. He would have to do.

The boy exchanged a short glance with the man who was still holding the crying woman, and nodded.

"Yeah, Casey, let's take you home."

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_A/N: My second attempt at a Dasey fic. Please be gentle. Hopefully, it won't be a failure like my last one…_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: This time, in Derek's POV._

_p.s.Thanks to everyone who commented. I appreciate the feedback!

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_

Derek glanced at Casey. She was looking out the car window, at the scenery whizzing by. She looked so tired, so lost. The odd bruise and scratch covered a part of her pallid skin, making her seem like an abused puppy.

He recalled a moment a few minutes ago, when she had finally woken up. His dad had been pacing, and Nora had continued to stand by her daughter's side, unmoving. She'd been that way since Casey had been admitted to the room, and had refused to leave Casey alone, not even for a blink of sleep.

When they noticed her stirring in the cot, they'd been so happy. She was okay, and they could be relieved. The doctor had told them when she was admitted that there was some damage to the head, nothing permanent. There was a high chance of amnesia, and a definite chance of a concussion, though. Casey's face had been full of confusion when she awoke, staring at Nora blankly. She'd reluctantly called her 'mother,' giving herself into Nora's tight embrace. But Derek had noticed her dry eyes wandering, studying the room.

Casey hadn't been herself when she woke. She'd been a stranger, an unknown, waking up in Casey's body. When she'd asked him if he was her brother, he didn't have the heart to tell her that he was only her _step_brother. She's seemed to need some sort of reassurance, something more than Nora's tears.

And so began Derek's new _new_ life with Casey McDonald.

* * *

"If you could, Derek, I'd appreciate it. _We_'d appreciate it," His dad said quietly. Nora was still grieving over her daughter's lost identity in their room. Derek was to help Casey understand her surroundings better, since he'd been the only person she had warmed up to in the hospital. 

"No problem, dad. Are you sure Nora's going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine in a day or so," George said, retreating back into the room. Derek sighed, and climbed up the stairs to the living room where Casey sat, waiting. It had to be scary for her, surrounded by strangers in a strange house with no memory of who she was. It had to be.

And Derek Venturi, king of the royal chair, lord of the house, and ruler of the school, was going to bend all his sacred rules for his stepsister. Unbelievable.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Whu—" started Casey. She was still in her hospital robes, since her clothes had been ruined in the accident. They made her seem more sickly, more worn out. Her face broke out in a small smile.

"You're…Derek. My brother, right?" she asked again, as if not sure she'd be able to remember anything. He'd told her all their names during the car ride home. Six names at once, he supposed, was a lot to manage if you'd recently been in an accident you couldn't remember.

None of the old Casey remained. He couldn't see any of the fiery spirit inside her, or her sharp tongue, or her meticulousness about anything school related. He only saw a lost little girl asking for help.

He sighed, biting back a retort ("_step_brother,"), and said instead, "Yeah, that's right, Case."

He smiled back.

"Let's get you dressed for bed, then shall we?" he said, offering her an arm. "I'm sure you want to get out of that."

"Oh yes. Please. This thing is hideous," she said, contorting her face in mock disgust. Derek laughed a little, and was relieved. The real Casey was only a barrier away, just waiting to be released. She would return back to normal soon enough.

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_A/N: I'm taking liberties with Nora here. She'll most likely be mourning Casey for a while. Oh, and please don't depend on frequent updates. I've got like, three summatives due at the end of the month, so I'll be pretty busy... Yeah, school sucks, I know._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Back to Casey's POV

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_

"This is your room." Casey blinked as she sat down on the bed. It was so strangely uncomfortable, and obsessively clean. The bed was pink, and the walls were purple. Everything was organized. The windows were slightly open, letting the fresh scent of evening float into the room, but she could not smell it. The boy's musky cologne overpowered it. It tickled her nose.

"So," he said, brushing against her arm to get to the window. He closed it, and turned around to face her. "Let's have a look around then, shall we?" He said, with just a smidgen of uncertainty.

"You don't know where anything is, do you?" she simply said, looking at him in the eye. She sighed.

"No," Derek said quickly, "but I thought it might be better if someone was here to help you."

"Couldn't the girl—Lily?"

"Lizzie."

"—help me instead?"

"Well, if you want me out of here so bad…" He looked disappointed. He made to move for the door. She stopped him with a small touch on his arm, causing him to look down at her. She looked straight into his warm brown eyes, and opened her own blue ones wide, showing him the loneliness and pain she felt inside.

"No," she said quietly. Then a little bit more firmly, "no I don't." She didn't want to face this foreign place alone. And this boy, Derek, seemed to know her best, even if he had no clue to where her pajamas were hidden. No matter. They would search all night if it needed be. She gave him a small smile, sliding her hand down his arm to capture his hand in hers. He gave it a slight squeeze, and easily lifted her off the bed to guide her to the closet.

"Um…" he said, opening the closet door, revealing a bright array of t-shirts and collared shirts, long sleeves and short sleeves.

"Do you need some help?" she asked, stifling a laugh. Her blue eyes twinkled for the first time since she woke up in the hospital. It seemed like ages ago.

He scratched his head, and shrugged at her.

"I'm kinda hopeless in this department," he confessed. "So you wanna do the looking around for clothes while I keep you company while looking at you looking around for clothes?"

"Uh…sure?"

She began to ruffle through the items in the closet, and the drawers, not sure of what she was looking for. She felt like she was in a department store, looking through new clothes. These even looked and felt new, they were so clean.

"Um, Derek?"

"Yeah, Case?"

"What exactly am I looking for?"

"Oh, right, I forgot. You usually wear a tight tank top and underwear to sleep," he pointed out, a smirk creeping into his voice.

"What!" Casey protested, shocked and confused. Was Derek telling her the truth? She blanched at the notion of wearing just about nothing to bed. Maybe she was that type of girl…

A low chuckle could be heard. She spun around to find Derek laughing at her expression.

"It's really quite sexy," he insisted, his infamous Derek smirk on his face. (Of course, she didn't know yet that it was infamous.) It made him seem more distant, condescending, and a little cruel. Perhaps this was what he was really like, mercilessly teasing his sister all the time. She suddenly felt loneliness overcome her again.

"Maybe…maybe you should leave now," she said softly, looking down at her hands, currently holding a purple tee.

Derek's smirk fell off his face immediately. She closed her eyes, trying to reel in her emotions. Suddenly she felt his arms around her, holding her tight.

"Sorry…" he said, voice muffled on her shoulder. His body was warm; it made her realize how cold she was under the hospital robes. "I forgot. I forgot, and I'm sorry… I'll try and remember, but it's so hard. I'll try…" he trailed off, pulling back to look at her face.

His thumb caressed her cheek ever so slightly and tenderly, and she shivered. (From the cold?) He paused a moment, and let his hand drop. With a sigh, he moved away from her, and turned to the closet.

"I'll help you, as little as I know about girls' clothes, I'll help you for real this time. 'Kay?"

She looked at him for a moment, unsure whether or not she could trust him. After a beat, she replied, "'Kay."

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_A/N: A little awkward there, I know. Trying to get the plot going... And yeah, it will be a "forbidden love" thing cuz Casey thinks Derek's her REAL brother._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Sorry for the long absense. Been studying alot for Exams. Enjoy._

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Derek returned to his room after a few minutes; they had found the pajamas in no time, working together through her immense collection of clothing. It was amazing how many t-shirts one girl could have. And some of them did not even look like they'd ever seen the light of day. These were the more provocative ones, a few sizes too small, with plunging necklines and cropped edges. Derek's mind had gone into overload for a few seconds then, imagining Casey with any of them on, smiling seductively while removing the piece of clothing for him.

Then he'd reeled his mind out of the gutters, and focused instead on the fragile looking girl beside him, concentrating on her task. _This_ was the real Casey right now, and he could not take advantage of her, even in his fantasies. It wasn't fair to her.

After finding the pink patterned PJs, he'd offered to help her change into them, as a joke, and this time, she'd actually cracked a smile, instead of telling him to leave in a wounded voice. She was beginning to trust him now.

Derek sighed, as he removed his t-shirt and cargo pants, lying down on his bed only clad in his boxer shorts. He didn't quite remember the exact moment when he'd come to feeling something for Casey that was far from brotherly love, and even further from hatred. Fantasies of what life could have been like without their parents' union haunted him in his sleep.

Life without Casey, or life with Casey hating him. It was hard to choose between the two. On the one hand, without her he wouldn't have so many problems. No feminist rants, no living room makeover, no googly-eyed best friend. On the other hand, all those things drove him up the wall, but there was always Casey to make up for the rest. His brown haired, blue-eyed feisty beauty of a stepsister.

He sighed again. Hopefully, Casey would be back to normal soon. She was only a shadow of her former self, and he missed arguing heatedly with her. He didn't dare fight with her in her current state.

Sitting half way back up, he reached for his iPod and placed the earphones firmly on his ears, turning it on full blast. Then, remembering that Casey had once lectured him on the damage full blast volume causes to one's ears, he turned it down a few notches, lay back down, and closed his eyes.

Casey lay in bed, feeling snug in the pink cotton pajamas. _Her_ pink cotton pajamas. She needed to remember that. This was _her_ purple room, _her_ pink bed, _her_ pink pajamas, and _her_ organized desk with _her_ homework and make up in it. No matter how foreign everything seemed, it was all a part of her normal and everyday life.

Muscles aching, head full of pink thoughts, and eyelids immensely heavy, Casey fell into a restless sleep with a series of nightmares.

**_I _**

**_Pink roses surrounded her, little fairies flying around her head. They smiled at her demurely, batting their eyelashes at her and bowing. _**

****

**_They suddenly turned into nameless classmates, and began to taunt her in the classroom. _**

****

**_"Grub, Grub, Grub…" they repeated, over and over again. _**

****

**_She felt confused and disoriented, and realized that she was melting into the chair she was sitting in. The chair began to consume her, laughing maniacally. _**

****

**_"AAAAAAAhhhhhh!" she screamed. _**

**_II _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

**_Casey, will you marry me? _**

****

**_-said the cow. _**

****

**_III _**

**_Sam leaned in to kiss Casey. His lips got larger and larger, consuming his entire face. They opened and slurped at Casey's face, and she screamed. _**

**_The lips opened wider, and bit her head off, muffling her screams. Then they said, "It's your fault, Casey. You're the one who made me this way. Your fault. Not mine. Yours." _**

****

**_IV _**

**_"IIIIIIIII'm having such a great time, Sam," Casey watched herself say. _**

****

**_"I'm glad you are," Sam replied, looking at her adoringly. Casey felt tingly all over, and glowed under his gaze. He leaned in, lips slightly puckered, and she let her eyes slide closed, moving her body to meet his. Casey watched the two of them kiss chastely, a little longer than a peck. _**

****

**_Both parties blushed a deep scarlet; they were obviously not used to physical contact with each other. Casey felt hopeless. Is this what she and her boyfriend had been like? But a squeal of breaks interrupted her train of thought. _**

****

**_A beat up car veered off course on its right lane to the left, into the car Sam and Casey were in. It happened in extreme slow motion. The car slowed down considerably, as did Sam's, but it still made its way for a collision. As metal scraped against metal, Casey saw the drunk teenager, not so much older than herself, behind the wheel of the colliding car, and the panic etched in his face. _**Then time stopped, and a scream was heard, followed by the noise of someone crying.

At first, Casey thought it was the crying woman, her mother. Then she realized the hot tears were falling from her own face, her legs wrapped tightly around the sheets. She rose from the bed, and untangled herself, tears still openly flowing.

Stumbling into the dark hallway, she reached for the door to her brother's bedroom. She needed someone to help her get through this. Hopefully, Derek would. He just had to.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to update... I was just kinda cuaght up in other things... This may be short, but I hope you like it... Derek's POV!_

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Derek was half-asleep when he heard someone at his door. He turned off the iPod, and wondered who could be awake at this hour other than himself.

"Who is it?" he called out.

"I-it's m-m-me, D-d-derek."

_Shit. Casey's crying._

He quickly lifted himself off his bed, and opened his door to a tear streaked Casey. She looked very disheveled, and he guessed that she'd just woken up from a nightmare of some sort. It was obvious that her memory was still lost; otherwise she would have never come to him for help.

He hugged her shoulders, and led her into his darkened room to his bed. Sitting her down, he hugged her properly, her head buried in his chest.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, it's only a dream. I'm here, it's all right. Shh."

She sobbed into his shirt, and he could feel it getting damp from her tears. He felt for her, no matter how unbelievable it sounded. Derek Venturi was feeling empathetic.

He just kept hugging her and telling her it was okay. It was all he could think of to do. No girl had ever come to him like this, except Marti. And he could always calm her down with a few jokes, or falsetto Dereka. She usually forgot about crying when he did that.

He doubted that the jokes would work with Casey. She seemed to be genuinely disturbed by her dream. Her cries had subsided to hiccups, and he slowly loosened his embrace, and laid her down on his bed. In the dark, even with her reddened face and eyes, she looked beautiful. He smiled softly, and played a little with her hair.

"I think it was a memory." This sobered him very quickly. He let go of her hair, and looked her straight in the eye.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said in a small voice. Derek waited. If she needed more time, she'd get it.

Another beat passed.

"We were in the car," she began. "And then everything suddenly slowed down, but at the same time everything was going too fast."

She paused again. Derek waited patiently. It was amazing how much patience he actually had. He just had never really had any use for it. Until now.

"Go on," he encouraged. "If you feel like you can continue," he quickly added.

"I could see his face, Derek. I could see the confusion in the poor guy's face! He was so young…"

Derek had heard about the cause of the accident; it had been a drunk driver. The guy had been around their age, and had been killed instantly in the car crash. It was amazing how something so huge could happen in an instant.

And here was Casey, still scared out of her mind from the experience, and yet worried about the guy who caused her condition in the first place. Derek supposed that he was never going to understand a girl like Casey.

"Oh, and the fear etched in his face as he drove into us…" she trailed off, a sob choking her throat.

Derek just wrapped his arms around her shaking form, and made soothing noises until she fell asleep. By then, he had her wrapped in his bed covers, hugging her tightly. Then, with a heavy sigh, he lay beside her and slept.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Sorry to all my readers and reviewers. My hiatus, unfortunately, had no real reason. So, just accept my apology. Thanks. If there's anyone out there who wants to help get this going faster, and want to help me develop my stories, leave your contact and I'll send you a proposal.

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_

Casey awoke, with no sense of who she was or where she was, or why she was there.

Looking around, she saw many things. Posters of bands, candy wrappers, discarded pieces of clothing, stale pizza, crumpled up pieces of paper, and…a fairy wand. It was pink.

The person beside her stirred, and she turned to find her brother beside her. Derek.

Now she remembered the horribly clear memory that came to her in a dream, and why she was where she was. She sighed, a mix of feelings welling up inside her: shock at the memory, sadness at the discovery, and gratefulness at Derek's generosity. She looked down at him now, and saw a peaceful half-smile on his face, thick lashes covering up his eyes.

Reaching down, she moved a curl of hair from his forehead, and softly said, "Wake up sleepy head."

As he began to wake, she picked up the wand from beside her and touched his nose with it.

"And with this tap, I awake you from your slumber!" she said with a flourish. He crinkled his nose at the announcement, then croaked, "Good morning to you too."

He rose on his elbows, still blinking away the sleep grime from his eyes. Yawning, he greeted Casey with a sheepish smile, then flopped back down on his pillow, making his way back to dreamland.

"Oh no you don't," she said, and pulling him back up into a semi-sitting position. One night of sleeping with each other had made it so much more comfortable to be around him. _No, sleeping _by, _not sleeping with. _She shuddered at the suggestion of incest. It suddenly made her very uncomfortable at the implications, and she let go of Derek immediately.

"Ow," he said as he got himself up, sleepiness all chased away with the crash back on the bed, courtesy of Casey. By the time his eyes were clear enough to see, Casey had masked her discomfort with a new wave of curiosity. The room was definitely a boy's room, decked with many posters of cars and rebellion, unwashed clothing everywhere, and half-eaten food discarded around the general area of the garbage can. It seemed that her brother needed to work on his aim though; there was hardly anything actually inside the can.

Her gaze came full circle, and landed on Derek once again. Recalling his kindness in taking her in last night, she almost teared up again.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, voice immediately filled with concern.

"Nothing, just…" She paused. She didn't want to cry again.

"This is so strange to me, and you're being so nice, and everything's so confusing and I don't know myself and…well, I'm just trying to say…thank you."

"It was nothing, Case."

"No, it was something, and I really appreciate it, Derek." The name still felt strange in her mouth, as did everyone's, just like her own.

They sat for a moment, in the awkward silence, until Derek cleared his throat to break it.

"I think you should get ready for school, Case. The doc said we should uh, keep you in routine, try and jog your memory that way."

She nodded.

"Thanks again Derek," she said as she stood.

"No problem."

"Oh, and Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you keep this secret? I don't want to get the crying woman--mom's hopes up, only to disappoint her. She seems sad enough already."

"Sure." A strange look crossed his face, but Casey was already out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: I wrote this a little while ago... I'm going through a writer's block right now..so don't eat me!_

* * *

Breakfast had gone well; Nora hadn't been there, but otherwise things were as normal as they could get. Lizzie brought Casey up to speed over scrambled eggs, and Marti was successful at weirding her out with her eating habits. It was yellow day; Marti had put bananas on her mustard covered eggs. Derek drove her to school, explaining the rules of the school hallways, and his status as King.

She had laughed at this, disbelieving, but had been proven wrong once they arrived. Every person, with no exception, had greeted him like a cool best friend, and some he actually greeted back.

Emily had gladly taken up the job as guide for him, and Casey was adapting to her new environment. Still, Derek felt uneasy about letting her out of his sight. She was still the new, fragile Casey, and he feared for her safety, both mentally and physically. They promised each other to meet in the library during lunch, and went their separate ways once the warning bell rang.

Derek hadn't been anywhere near the library for ages. He'd just had no reason to, since henever took up reading as a pastime. They were more Casey's thing. That was why he was in here in the first place, feeling like a fish not quite out of water, but nevertheless out of his element. In a shallow pool, maybe, during a drought.

He spotted her.

She was in a corner near the windows, nibbling on a pen, looking as if deep in thought.The faint traces of fading bruises and healing scratches blemished her pale skin, and she did not look half as confident or as in-your-face as Casey had been. He sighed, and walked over to her table.

"Casey," he whispered loudly. She looked at him, dazed. An expression of confusion crossed her features, then, as if finally realizing who he was, she stage-whispered back "Derek!"

It was odd, to see his stepsister say his name without any disgust or hatred. It wasn't unpleasant, just...odd.

"Hey. What're you doing here?" he asked her.

"Well, umm...what's my friend's name again? The one with frizzy hair who talks about you all the time?"

"Emily?"

"Yeah, Emily!" her eyes lit up at the name. "Well, Emily told me that this is what my favorite place was...is."

Sadness softened her features, and she seemed to deflate a bit. It was still distressing, after a whole day, that she still had no idea who she was.

Derek took note of this, and quickly changed the subject.

"So, what have you been doing? Doodling?" he looked over the table at her notebook. Habits die hard, he supposed, because she was copying out a whole chapter in a textbook.

"What're you doing, Casey? Copying the entire book?" He stifled a laugh. She looked at him blankly, and just said, "Emily told me I did this too...and that I liked copying textbooks for fun."

Seeing that staying inside was not a good option, he pulled her to her feet, and grabbed her things.

"C'mon, we're going to the park."

* * *

Few minutes later, Casey lay on the green grass under the oak tree, breathing in deeply. The place was calming after a whole day surrounded by strangers. Emily was really friendly, and most of her classmates left her alone, but it was good to finally see a familiar face. She smiled at him, sitting by her, leaning on the trunk of the tree. 

"This is really nice,"

"Yeah, it is," he replied, stretching, revealing a toned stomach as his t-shirt struggled to cover it up. Now he was lying on his leather jacket, head propped up against a tree root. She looked away quickly, and chanted, 'my brother, my brother, my brother…'

Then she stopped suddenly, remembering something.

Looking over at Derek again, there was a moment's pause; she didn't want to disturb his peace.

"Derek," she began slowly.

"Hmm?" he murmured, already close to dozing.

"About Sam…" Derek's eye snapped open.

"What about him?"

"Shouldn't he be in school with us right now?"

"Technically, yeah…"

"But…?" she prompted. In all honesty, she was only asking to get it off her conscience, not because she was worried about her boyfriend. It was hard to care about someone who you had no memory of whatsoever.

"He's still in the hospital, Case." He frowned, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. "He's in a coma."

Casey took a sharp intake of breath. She'd assumed that this 'Sam' was already out of the hospital like herself. She'd been wrong.

"Is it serious?"

"I really don't know. The doctors said they can't do anything for him but wait. He's going to have to pull himself out of the coma."

Casey frowned. She felt pity for the boy, the boy who had been her boyfriend.

"Could I…could we go visit him sometime?" she asked tentatively. An odd look passed his features, but it was gone as quickly as it had come, and he just said, with a small smile, "Sure."

Then Derek lay back down, and visibly relaxed. Casey looked at him again and smiled back. He was such a considerate brother. She was glad to have someone like him to look after her.

It was really weird, to be unable to recognize anyone, even herself. She'd looked in the mirror for ages after she'd woken, just to familiarize herself with the face that everyone else saw. Her eyes were large and blue, her eyebrows arched neatly. Her face was mainly free of flaws, with the exception of a small blemish here and there. She had a button nose, and a full mouth. Her strong chin hinted at a stubborn nature, but she didn't really feel all that stubborn right now. Rich brown hair tumbled down her back, just a little past her shoulders.

Derek had similarly colored hair, brown with hints of red highlights hidden in the loose curls. It was messy, and not styled, but Casey thought that it looked just fine. The messiness was even kind of… endearing to look at.

She looked at him, lying against the tree once again, completely relaxed, and smiled. He had light and long lashes, and underneath, large, puppy dog brown eyes. He had a quirky nose, not sharp or blunt or upturned…just…Derek. His mouth was also full, with laugh lines on either side. He'd laugh more often, she imagined, if not for her.

Sighing again, she allowed the calming atmosphere lull her into sleep.


End file.
